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I have been searching the forums for ways to move the C:\Users and C:\ProgramData folder to another drive for data security and what little performance gains it may give. The two most common methods I see are:

  1. moving the folders using robocopy and creating symbolic links to the new folder
  2. moving the folder and editing the registry to point to the new folder D:\Users instead of C:\Users.

None of the posts I found have discussed the benefits and drawbacks of each though. Sym links seems to be the easier method, but I would think the registry edit would be the better method.

I have used the sym links on my last machine and it worked fine, almost all of the time. There were a few softwares that just would not run and there were a few seemingly random quirks of the machine.

Which method would be least likely to cause other issues and least likely to cause some software to not work. Which would be the best for performance?

I found a couple topics for previous versions of windows, but not sure they still apply.

Moving users folder on Windows Vista/7 to another partition

what are the commands to redirect a subfolder of C:\ProgramData to D:\ProgramData

David_M16
  • 113

3 Answers3

4

You can completely move the Users folder to another disk, and on the main disk, create an Junction NTFS link to it. I did it this way, and the computer has been working stably for about 5 years. And I used the computer very actively, installing all sorts of things there.

Moving the Users folder steps:

  1. Enter into Safe Mode with Command Prompt (press the restart button while holding Shift).
  2. Go to the C:\
C:
  1. Create a full copy of the Users folder to another disk:
robocopy C:\Users D:\Users /E /COPYALL /SJ /SL /DCOPY:DATE /R:3 /W:5
  1. Create a Junction link C:\UsersNew => D:\Users
mklink /J C:\UsersNew D:\Users
  1. Rename the folder C:\Users => C:\UsersOld
ren Users UsersOld
  1. Rename the folder C:\UsersNew => C:\Users
ren UsersNew Users
  1. Restart the computer

This method of moving the folder should provide maximum protection against any unexpected issues.

Nikolay Makhonin
  • 149
1

First consider cloning the system drive to a larger drive or redirecting Documents folder. Those are more typical changes, and I expect those to have less side effects.

Changing the profile locations works best before the accounts first signs than for existing account. Set "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\ProfilesDirectory"="D:\Users" and it'll create new profiles there.

Robocopy works well for the copy, but include "/COPYALL" copy all of the file properties and "/XJ" to exclude the junction points. Note that "C:\Users{Username}\AppData\Local\Application Data" points to it's own parent folder and usually causes an endless loop if try to copy. However, these missing junctions could cause problems for old applications that they exist to support.

I'd avoid file in user errors when creating the symlinks from the command prompt of a Windows installation boot USB instead. I'd also avoid creating a C:\Users symlink to allowing keeping the admin user on the C drive to be able to troubleshoot issues such as BitLocker failing to auto unlocking the D drive.

MM11
  • 66
0

The USERS folder as you have defined in your question is the whole folder. This includes C:\Users\name\AppData\Local, and this should NOT be moved to another drive.

(1) People who have relocated AppData have had to reinstall their OS.Do not relocate AppData.

(2) For Program Data, see what might need to stay on Drive C. You need to look at it all.

The only really safe folders to relocate is the Documents folder within your USERS folder.

Good rule of thumb: Right click on the folder and select Properties. If there is a Location tab, you can relocate that folder. If no location tab, do not move it.

Best advice: Get a properly larger main disk and keep Windows on Drive C. That will work better in the long term.